An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center

The Peter Glenville Papers embrace
correspondence, business records, address books, appointment books, photographs,
clippings, and personal documents. Spanning the years 1914 to 2001, the collection
is largely in its original order, with the material in each series arranged
alphabetically by original file title.

Language:

English

Access:

Open for research. Some materials have mold damage; see the Condition Note concerning
access to these materials.

Condition Note:

Portions of the Peter Glenville Papers were damaged by mold during storage in the
years after Glenville’s death. Most of the damaged materials were in sufficiently
sound condition to permit the Ransom Center’s Conservation Department to clean
them
so that they could be safely handled and viewed with proper precautions.
During cataloging, preservation photocopies were made of all personal correspondence
located within the moderately mold-damaged materials (boxes 30-37) and these
surrogates are now interfiled in the undamaged papers (boxes 1-29) to facilitate
use
of the collection. All photocopies are marked "Preservation photocopy of
mold-damaged original in the Peter Glenville Papers."
Researchers wishing to access the moderately mold-damaged originals located in boxes
30-37 are cautioned that while the Conservation Department has treated these
manuscripts for mold infestation by aspiration and/or dry cleaning, mold may still
be present. Users sensitive to mold should wear gloves and a dust/mist respirator
while handling this material.
Other Glenville materials (about 3 linear feet) were so severely damaged by mold that
salvage was not possible. These files were examined by the cataloger, who identified
the most significant letters and documents present, made preservation photocopy
surrogates of these items, and interfiled the surrogates into the undamaged papers.
These photocopies are marked "Preservation photocopy of extensively mold-damaged
original in the Peter Glenville Papers; Original item not available for use."

Peter Glenville was born to a noted theatrical family on 28 October 1913 in London.
Peter’s parents Shaun Glenville, an Irish-born comedian, and Dorothy Ward were
musical theater performers much-loved for their work in that
characteristically-British light musical theater genre known as pantomime, panto
for
short.

After graduation from Stonyhurst College, Peter Glenville attended Christ Church
College, Oxford University, where he joined the Oxford University Dramatic Society.
In 1934, he became the society’s president and also made his professional stage
debut. Over the next several years Glenville was active in the theater and motion
pictures as an actor, gradually developing an interest in directing, and leading
to
his 1944 appointment as director for the Old Vic Company.

After World War II, Glenville met Hardy William Smith (1916-2001). Smith had taken
his military discharge from the United States Navy in Britain at the war’s end,
intending to pursue a career in the theater there. Glenville and Smith became
professional and life partners, with Smith producing and Glenville directing plays
for the London stage.

Glenville and Smith soon became active in the theater on both sides of the Atlantic,
their 1949 production of The Browning Version being
Glenville’s first directorial effort in New York. Notable London and New York
productions included The Innocents (1950), Summer and Smoke (1951), Separate
Tables (1954),The Prisoner (also 1954),
and Hotel Paradiso (1957). A 1955 film version of
The Prisoner represented Glenville’s first
direction of a motion picture; both versions featured Glenville’s close friend
and
frequent collaborator Alec Guinness.

After more than a decade of living in London Glenville and Smith moved to New York
in
1960 and bought a house at 18 East 68th Street in Manhattan. Through the sixties
Peter Glenville was very active in film and theatrical productions in the United
States, directing on Broadway Take Me Along
(1959-60), Becket (1960), and Dylan (1964), as well as film adaptations of Summer and Smoke (1961), Becket (1964),
and Hotel Paradiso (1966). Glenville’s film
productions Me and the Colonel (1958) and The Comedians (1967) were not based on earlier Glenville
theatrical productions.

Peter Glenville worked on a film version of Man of La
Mancha in 1971, but, failing to agree with MGM about the project, he bowed
out. Following a Broadway production of Tennessee Williams’s Out Cry (1973) Glenville retired from active theatrical and film work,
eventually moving to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he developed a notable
colonial estate. Peter Glenville died in New York City on 3 June 1996; Hardy Smith
survived him by five years.

Van Gelder, Lawrence. "Peter Glenville, 82, a Director on
Broadway and in London," New York
Times, 5 June 1996.

Who’s Who in the Theatre, 17th ed. Detroit: Gale
Research, 1981.

The Peter Glenville Papers embrace correspondence, business records, address books,
appointment books, photographs, clippings, and personal documents. Spanning the
years 1914 to 2001, the collection is largely in its original order, with the
material in each series arranged alphabetically by original file title. The
subseries of clippings and photographs lacked systematic descriptions and was
organized at the Ransom Center.

The papers described herein comprise four series: Series I. Works and Productions,
1944-72 (9 boxes); Series II. Business Files, 1945-76 (4.5 boxes); Series III.
Personal Papers, 1914-2001 (26 boxes); and Series IV. Hardy William Smith Materials,
1920-99 (1.5 boxes).

The Works and Productions series includes correspondence, business records, and a
few
scripts for plays and films, realized or projected, in which Glenville was involved
between 1944 and 1972. The materials included are in most cases selective rather
than exhaustive, although the files relating to Becket (play and film versions), The
Comedians, Dylan, and Hotel Paradiso (both versions) contain a significant amount of
correspondence.

The Business Files contain communications from Glenville’s accountants and principal
legal representation, along with some general correspondence created during the
years 1945-76. A number of scripts not related to any specific project in which
Peter Glenville had involved himself are present in the series.

The Personal Papers series is the largest in the Glenville Papers and is broken down
into six subseries, documenting various aspects of Peter Glenville’s personal
life,
avocational interests, household, and career. The subseries are A. Correspondence,
B. Financial Files, C. Household Files, D. Personal Records and Related Material,
E.
Clippings, and F. Photographic Prints and Slides.

The final series, Hardy William Smith Materials, contains a significant amount of
personal correspondence for the period from the 1950s to 1999, as well as the
business records relating to the house at 18 East 68th Street, and a collection
of
personal and family photographs covering the years 1920 to 1952.

Collections in the Ransom Center which contain material related to Glenville include
the Joseph Abeles Studio Collection, as well as the collections of B. J. Simmons
& Co., Graham Greene, James Salter, Tennessee Williams, and Audrey Wood.

A small number of personal belongings of Peter Glenville has been removed to the
Personal Effects Collection, as have three videocassettes to the Sound Recordings
Collection.